Sadness as the Green Bus cafe is towed away
12 February 2008
By Clive Whittingham


END OF AN ERA: Janet Schofield
with the Green Bus before it was
towed away.

The Green Bus cafe, at Whatstandwell, closed its doors for a final time on Friday, bringing to an end more than 25 years of service in Derbyshire.

The bus, a 1969 Leyland Panther, ran between Chesterfield and Bakewell in the 1970s after being purchased by Hulley's, of Baslow, from a company in Liverpool.

It was turned into a cafe and parked in the Whatstandwell layby on the A6 in the early 1980s.

Last month the current owner Janet Schofield announced she was closing the business for good after a spate of vandalism and theft. On Friday the bus was towed away and will now be part of a restoration project back in Liverpool.

Mrs Schofield received just £300 for the bus after shelling out £8,500 for it just 15 months ago, and fought back the tears as it was towed away last week.

She said: "I was quite shocked at how upset I was about it all on the day. I'm into week two of not working there now and I am missing going down there and all the friends I've made.



"I miss the people and the company but I don't miss the aggravation I've had over the last 15 months.

"Quite a few people made an effort to get down during the last week, I should have said it was closing down a long time ago to boost trade!"

Television and radio crews were present as the famous local landmark was towed back to Liverpool in an operation that cost the Merseyside Transport Trust about £600.

Rob Wilson from the trust, which has been rescuing and restoring old Liverpool buses since 1974, said: "We have a similar one up here that we've nearly completed restoring. It's missing a few parts and this one will help provide those.

"We've had our eye on this for 15 years or maybe more. We've known about it a long time and have had a few cups of tea with different owners over the years.

"We only had to change the tyres to get it here, it rolled quite well considering it's been standing still a long time."

Source: Belper News